Police assigns a "code word" to rescue a girl from a potential kidnapping

SAN TAN VALLEY, Arizona (WTHR) – Police in Arizona say that a "codeword" from a family saved a girl from a possible abductor.

The 11-year-old girl told the Pinal County Sheriff's Department that she was walking with a friend near a park when a man parked next to him. them in an SUV. The man reportedly told the girl that her brother had a serious accident and that she had to accompany him.

But when the girl asked the man what was the "code word", he did not know it and left.

"Congratulations to this child's parents for having a code word and speaking to their children about the danger of a stranger," said Sheriff Mark Lamb on Facebook. "We hope this publication will encourage parents to have this conversation and create a plan with their children so that they know what to do if they are in this situation."

Children told the police that they had already seen the SUV in the neighborhood. The man covered his face while talking to the girls in an attempt to conceal anything that would identify the victim, the police said.